1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer or a facsimile for forming an image by feeding,sheets from a plurality of sheet supply sources.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the related art, an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine is generally constructed to comprise a plurality of sheet supply sources including a main sheet supply source such as a sheet cassette or a sheet tray belonging to the body, or a fixed sheet supply source such as a sheet deck attached to the body detachably. The copying machine of this kind is enabled to form an image on sheets of various sizes either by causing the user to select a sheet supply source with an operation panel or by detecting the document size with a document detecting sensor or a document feeder thereby to select the sheet supply source automatically.
In recent years, moreover, there has been proposed such an apparatus construction for a handicapped person, e.g., a user of a wheeled chair or a visually handicapped person, which can be easily operated by the handicapped person. For example, there is known a technique in which the operation panel is lowered when the handicapped person is recognized, thus allowing the handicapped person to operate on the wheeled chair or in which the visual recognition is improved by enlarging the display letters of the operation panel.
Here, the image forming apparatus for forming an image by transporting sheets is frequently troubled by a problem or a jamming phenomenon of the sheets to be transported.
When the jam occurs at the time of feeding the sheets from a main sheet supply source, a door attached to the side of the apparatus is generally opened. As a result, a sheet feeding path is exposed to the outside space of the apparatus so that the jamming sheet can be confirmed and removed relatively easily.
In most constructions of the sheet deck of the fixed sheet supply source, on the other hand, the sheet feeding path is exposed to the inside space of the apparatus even if the apparatus is opened for removing the jamming sheet. In other words, the jamming sheet cannot be visually confirmed merely from the side or top of the apparatus even when the jam occurs at the time of feeding the sheets from the sheet deck. In this case, the jamming sheet cannot be removed unless the jamming sheet is confirmed by looking up the inside of the sheet deck from below the apparatus.
Thus, the jamming sheet may not be able to be removed in a sheet supply source unless the user changes his or her posture by squatting down or taking a low posture. This makes it difficult for the handicapped person or the user of a wheeled chair to use the apparatus. On the other hand, it is seriously difficult for a weak-sighted person to remove the jamming sheet from deep within the apparatus.